News Mars One - settlement funded via reality TV in 2023

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

I always had a niggling doubt with the Mars One project. It took me ages to put my finger on it, but it boils down to "If its that simple, why hasn't someone else done it?". Just looking over their website seemed to say to me "We've thought though some of this, but not all of it.". Also the funding model is crap. If the TV deals fall though, or aren't as large as they think they're going to be, the entire program is a bust.

Yeah, the reality TV bit is the fundamental weak link here. I highly doubt that the crew would be okay with having the camera on them at all times during a mission that could have some stressful times in it. Hard to imagine them not just putting a piece of duct tape over the camera when @#%$ really flies, and what tv network will pay this kind of money for that? It would be a borderline inhuman arrangement when you think about it.

On the other hand, if/when NASA does ever get around to flying a real Mars mission, it might be interesting to have the crew do video logs to talk about the mission up to that point (think the "self therapy" sessions in Avatar)

 

[RonDVouz]

Maybe the point of mars one is to get everyone killed... Isn't people getting killed the reason why people tune into the walking dead every week?

Well, not until AFTER they've squeezed every penny out of their "astronauts" will they get them killed.

Dead men can't write checks.

 

[fsci123]

Well, not until AFTER they've squeezed every penny out of their "astronauts" will they get them killed.

Dead men can't write checks.

If that happens do these people still qualify for the Darwin awards... Assuming they don't reproduce before departure.

 

[RonDVouz]

They are indeed contributing to human evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool by their own actions, so yes they do.

 

[richfororbit]

Mars One is Bas Lansdorp's vision, he was twenty when the Pathfinder mission landed, and he thought he'd like to be able to go there himself.

As the years went by, he changed his perception.

It's an exciting proposal, but certainly dangerous. I'd of thought it seems rather too early for such a flight there.

Ultimately, the crew that would be the first would be prepared for such a journey.

 

[kamaz]

A coworker got an email...

 

[C3PO]

A coworker got an email...

That sounds very much like the life of a Faroese fisher in the '20s and '30s.

 

[statickid]

If you're with 24 other people, thaT'S not exactly ALONE now is it?? :nono:

ONLY the LAST person alive will die alone!! :facts:

I hate how the media always twists information and makes sensational claims targeted at emotional response.

 

[jedidia]

If you're with 24 other people, thaT'S not exactly ALONE now is it??

I think after spending 20 years with the same 20 people I'd WISH I'd die alone... :shifty:

 

[TachyonDriver]

I think after spending 20 years with the same 20 people I'd WISH I'd die alone... :shifty:

...I've been married for 23 years.......... most of them happily

 

[richfororbit]

I guess an open mind is a must for such an ambitious project.

 

[kamaz]

A coworker got an email...

It's an ad for this piece.

 

[boogabooga]

A coworker got an email...

The Mars One volunteers remind me of Das Boot. Going off to sea in the shiny submarine was all brass bands and bravado. But when the crew as trapped under the Straits of Gibraltar and left to suffocate, all that was left was terror.

I imagine Mars One would be a lot like that.

BTW, saw on the TMRO webcast that while the Mars One PR machine was hyping the selecting the finalist crew, they quietly missed a contract extension with a major aerospace company for their unmanned Mars probe, which is supposed to launch in a very short time.

(Read this as: they couldn't pony up the money for the only thing that was keeping the project credible.)

 

[kamaz]

they quietly missed a contract extension with a major aerospace company for their unmanned Mars probe, which is supposed to launch in a very short time.

“SSTL delivered the concept study for the Mars One communications system last year,” SSTL spokeswoman Joelle Sykes said Feb. 16. “There are no follow-on activities underway at the moment.”

“Lockheed Martin has concluded the initial contract with Mars One in which we performed mission formulation studies and developed payload interface specifications to support the selection of a payload suite for the 2018 Mars robotic lander,” the company said in a statement Feb. 17. “We continue to maintain an open channel of communications with Mars One and await initiation of the next phase of the program.”
- See more at: http://spacenews.com/mars-one-suspends-work-on-robotic-missions/#sthash.5P2iGzfR.dpuf

 

[Urwumpe]

The Mars One volunteers remind me of Das Boot. Going off to sea in the shiny submarine was all brass bands and bravado. But when the crew as trapped under the Straits of Gibraltar and left to suffocate, all that was left was terror.

Actually, terror was just one of many aspects in this chapter of the movie. There was also hope and stubborn professionalism. The terror was much stronger when the crew got their orders to head to France.

I think these two also fit well to such a Mars mission. Maybe more one than the other. But still... yeah, it does not look well.

 

[kamaz]

When you join the ‘Mars One Community,’ which happens automatically if you applied as a candidate, they start giving you points,” Roche explained to me in an email. “You get points for getting through each round of the selection process (but just an arbitrary number of points, not anything to do with ranking), and then the only way to get more points is to buy merchandise from Mars One or to donate money to them.”

Community members” can redeem points by purchasing merchandise like T-shirts, hoodies, and posters, as well as through gifts and donations: The group also solicits larger investment from its supporters. Others have been encouraged to help the group make financial gains on flurries of media interest. In February, finalists received a list of “tips and tricks” for dealing with press requests, which included this: “If you are offered payment for an interview then feel free to accept it. We do kindly ask for you to donate 75% of your profit to Mars One.”

Mars One’s selection process to date has required candidates to complete a questionnaire, upload a video to the project’s website, and get a medical examination with each candidate’s local doctor (which they had to arrange themselves). Roche said he then had a short Skype conversation with Mars One’s chief medical officer, Norbert Kraft, during which he was quizzed with questions from literature about Mars and the mission that Mars One had provided to all the applicants. No rigorous psychological or psychometric testing was part of the appraisal. Candidates were given a month to rote-learn the material before the interview.

So, here are the facts as we understand them: Mars One has almost no money. Mars One has no contracts with private aerospace suppliers who are building technology for future deep-space missions. Mars One has no TV production partner. Mars One has no publicly known investment partnerships with major brands. Mars One has no plans for a training facility where its candidates would prepare themselves. Mars One’s candidates have been vetted by a single person, in a 10-minute Skype interview.

https://medium.com/matter/mars-one-insider-quits-dangerously-flawed-project-2dfef95217d3

 

[TachyonDriver]

Oh dear lord! :facepalm:

I therefore stand every chance of being an ideal candidate - a regular 40-something, a little overweight, guy ..
... apart from a distinct lack of money. Oh well!

 

[MattBaker]

Mars One is a scam? Yeah, no .:facepalm:

 

[Alfastar]

So, Mars one going now to use all last options to just earn more money from an unrealistic stay-on-Mars TV-show?

And about 5 years later, those people who created Mars-one can pay a ride to the ISS meanwhile a lot of people did become poorer because the world most stupid's scam ever.

 

[fsci123]

A particularly disturbing article about the effects of Mars One